Introduction

The past few weeks I've been using an airliner in FSX once again. Airliners are perfect to practice IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) and procedures. There are many products on the market about airliners for FSX and X-Plane, but this time, I used the Aerosoft Airbus X Extended. This product is based on the Airbus A320 and A321 Series. Airbus Industries was founded in 1970 and today, they are one of the most remarkable jet aircraft manufacturers in the world. They've produced almost half of all jet airliners flying today. The company's more important models were the A300 (first flight in 1972) and A310 (first flight in1982). These models put the Airbus in the world wide aircraft manufacturing competition, but what started as a radical change and created a standard, was the introduction of the A320 family in 1987.

Later, this family will include much more models like the A318, A319, A320 and A321. Before 1987, most commercial airliners had traditional flight controls and systems with few or no automation systems. The pilot had almost direct control of the moving flight surfaces of the aircraft through hydraulic couplings and some had direct links. When Airbus showed the A320, it was a revolution in commercial aviation. They introduced the FBW (Fly-By-Wire) and many other flight control computer devices and systems to improve the safety and reduce the pilots workload in this type of aircraft. These aircraft were so impressive that they made Airbus the world’s top selling aircraft company.

FBW is a system that is in the middle, between the pilot and the moving flight surfaces. The pilot doesn't directly fly the aircraft. Instead he sends flight orders with the sidestick to the FBW computers. These computers collect these orders and process these with the aircraft status, provided by the sensors. The result from FBW system, are direct orders to the flight control surfaces to obey the pilot's orders, but to always keep the aircraft in a safe situation and as stable as possible. This system is also interconnected with the engine control system, for example, to increase thrust power when close to a stall. So, because of all of these innovations, the A320 family spread quickly throughout the world with a total of more than 5,400 deliveries. Many other companies followed the Airbus example and later also introduced some of Airbus innovations, including the Boeing Corporation.

There exists in FSX airliner world, some products, typically called “lite” or “light”, that are mostly only eye-candy and don't have a deep level of realism in systems. Many times they're only as complex as a Cessna C172 and it's very far from the real A320. This hasn't happened with the Aerosoft Airbus X Extended. This is a complex model but Aerosoft developed the aircraft and systems to be as understandable as possible and with a very easy to understand manual you can fly like a professional pilot, even for pilots that never saw the A320 cockpit before.

Of course it requires previous study of the manual and some dedication and practice, but that's also the pleasure of all airline virtual pilots. The Airbus X Extended is based on some models of the A320 family and runs on either the FSX or Prepar3D systems. For this review, I used the FSX version.

Installation and Documentation

The installation process was very easy. It has a wizard that does everything that required for a correct installation. The wizard asks you what version to install , FSX or Prepar3D. In the beginning of the installation process you need to insert your e-mail and the associated serial key because of copyright protection. Then, for pre-configuration throttle issues, the install wizard also asks if you have a single or dual throttle lever. After installing the Airbus, the wizard installs an Airbus X Extended only limited FS2Crew RAAS version if you don't have the full version already installed.

Volume 5 (3+1 pages English)
Checklists in normal format and in an arranged one to better use on a smartphone screen, hence the + 1.

Volume 6 (65 pages English/ 64 pages German & varying lengths in other languages)
A Step-by-step manual that explains in deep detail, a complete, real flight using this add-on. It also explains all the cockpit panels and pre-flight preparation. It also has very useful checklist tables and a complete glossary. This volume also includes tips on how to get real routes, to later reproduce them, and how to correctly approach an ILS (Instrument Landing System).

Volume 7 (2 pages English)
Reference speeds tables and diagrams.

Volume 8 (8 pages English)
Detailed step-by-step explanation of how to correctly configure your throttle. You need to do this in order to use your throttle exactly like a real Airbus throttle. The real Airbus has the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) system, and the developers created a module to realistically simulate this system using the throttle that you have.

You can also get more documents on the internet to complement the existing ones. Anyway, all 8 volumes of documents that are provided, are more than enough to master this aircraft. The volumes are very easy to read and have many diagrams and images to support the text.

Contents

The Airbus X Extended has an impressive bundle of tools and items. This add-on includes five models of Airbus: A320 IAE, A320 CFM, A321 IAE, A321 CFM and the A320 NEO demonstrator (with CFM engines and sharklets, which are Airbus style winglets).

The 49 High Definition liveries are based on real liveries and are spread through the various varients. It's important to mention that there's an official website where you can download over than 100 additional liveries, also based on real ones. I'm sure you'll find and get liveries from companies that you'll like and want to fly.

To assist you in the correct operation and use of this add-on, there are also the following tools:

RAAS Professional (Runway Awareness and Advisory System)
This is a module based on the real Honeywell RAAS unit. This system provides you with aural warnings during taxien, and info about your runway when you get close or are on it. This is a great help when flying or operating your Airbus in very bad visibility. It works very well giving you very useful information. For example, it alerts you if you can’t safely land on a runway. This module has it's own manual that explains all in 11 pages.

Recorder Manager
Here you can review, with impressive detail, all steps of your flights. Inside the aircraft you have an option to enable the flight recorder. All these recorded flights can be analyzed with this tool. Here, you can evaluate your performance and even export these flights. The export is an amazing feature that you can send data to a Virtual Airline Administrator, to the Aerosoft FSFlight Keeper (a detailed and complex tool to analyze your flights) or to Google Earth for further evaluation. In Google Earth, you can see your flight in 3D and is a beauty to see and also very helpful to analyze your performance. In the cockpit, there's a special button to insert bookmarks in the recorded log in real-time.

Livery Manager
This is a very easy to use tool to add and remove liveries on your Airbus models. All the liveries provided in the above mentioned website, are in the correct format for this tool. Using it, you only need to load the downloaded file and everything is automatically done.

Fuel Planner
An amazing tool that is much more easy and realistic to use than the same type of tool in other FSX add-ons. These days, the pilots doesn't need to calculate the fuel to load in the aircraft. It's the Dispatcher’s responsibility to do this calculation and even he/she has the help of software tools. In this package it's the same. The tool has 2 modes, basic and an advanced. In the basic mode you only need to insert the number of passengers, cargo and time of flight and the tool does everything for you. In the advanced mode you have more control. Items like the distance of the trip, time on ground and other details to insert such as air temperature.

In both modes, the tool provides the weights that you'll need later to insert on the MCDU (Multipurpose Control Display Unit, the Flight Management Computer of Airbus). Finally, it has a button that correctly loads your aircraft with passengers and fuel in real time. You don't need to exit and enter FSX every time you need to use the planner. This is an excellent feature and again, not typical of tools of this kind. It was also nice to see that in the advanced mode you can change the ZFW (Zero Fuel Weight) because in real life it changes according to company (airliners) configurations. There's also an additional version of the Fuel Planner with much more detail and more features.

These include the insertion of departure and arrival ICAO for the calculation of the trip distance instead of the time of flight, random buttons for number of passengers and cargo according to the pre-selected Airbus version and the ability to adjust the CoG (Centre of Gravity).

Connect tool
This is another amazing feature of this add-on. With it, your PC turns into a MCDU server. When activated and while flying you can use any web browser to access the MCDU of your Airbus. The MCDU is the most complex system on your aircraft and because it's nature, having lots of tiny buttons, it might be more easy to use it in a tablet computer using a touch screen. With the MCDU interaction, Aerosoft again does an excellent job. Several specific virtual camera (VC) positions, a 2D MCDU panel, that can be undocked and be called with a hotspot clickable zone in the 3D panel, and a special button to activate your real keyboard as the MCDU keyboard. All these to help you interact with the MCDU in a more friendly and easy way.

NavDataPro
This add-on works with Navigraph and NavDataPro databases. Aerosoft included 1 NavDataPro cycle with his Airbus X Extended. The NavDataPro Navigational Data database is supplied by Lufthansa Systems and are used in real aviation by more than 180 airlines. The database that's provided can be updated later using the associated services. These tools, like the Recorder Manager, have some features that are not usually found in add-ons for FSX, even in the most expensive ones.

First impressions

My first impressions started before I tried the Airbus. I was very surprised with the amount and the quality of all the features and tools described before.
I started FSX and loaded the default Cessna C172 before loading the Airbus. This task is very important in FSX because many times the bugs of some complex add-ons are not really from the add-on but from an issue in the FSX core. Many times, with complex add-ons, if you load them first, they may not work correctly because FSX didn't initialise all internal variables first.

So, keep this tip in mind, not only with Airbus, but also with others add-ons, first load a default Cessna, then your complex add.

Continuing, after loading the Cessna, I chose an Airbus from the pack. I entered the cockpit, positioned the Airbus at a designated runway, moved the throttles in the TOGA (Take-Off/Go-Around) detent, followed by a takeoff and believe it or not, I thought that I was in a real A320. The graphics, sound and flying feeling, all added to this feeling. I continued flying to make some tests and I saw that Airbus X Extended has an awesome implementation of the FBW system. Normally, with the default FSX core engine because his restrictions and nature is impossible to implement a decent FBW using it.

The Aerosoft development team does an excellent work here creating an internal module to give this Airbus a FBW system not using the default FSX core engine. The neutral stability, typical of FBW Airbuses and reaction to keep the aircraft safe, worked very very well. The flight envelope, over speed, stall and Alpha Floor protections worked as the real Airbus as did the pitch, roll and g-load limiter. So far, I’m positively happy, so let's start to explore this add-on and use it for realistic flight trips.

Walk-around

After I made my first test flight, I loaded a new aircraft in an airport park. Then I go outside and explore all the details. The external model is very detailed. It's like a real Airbus. It has all the tiny antennas and probes. Even the small yellow holding points for maintenance are there.

The developers also included a module that creates/simulates engine wind milling. And when this is not enough, it also depends of the wind direction and windspeed. In a real Airbus you have 2 MCDU’s, but normally you only use one, so this add-on uses the right side MCDU as an auxiliary unit to configure the aircraft. Configuring the aircraft, I can activate wheel chocks, connect the GPU (Ground power Unit) and position some pylons around the aircraft.

I also tested the NEO (New Engine Option) version with sharklets. The Aerosoft NEO version is the NEO demonstrator that has the CFM engine and not the new engines, the modern and actual NEO versions. This choice was made because at the time Aerosoft developed the Airbus X Extended, the final NEO version from Airbus was not yet public, only the demonstrator version with the traditional CFM engines. All the flight control surfaces, doors and the cargo hatches, work and move like the real ones. Others objects are also very well modeled and animated like the landing gears and its doors as well as the landing lights which are retractable. The textures are in high definition and the colours are very well chosen as they give a photo realistic look to the aircraft. All together, the textures and 3D models are like a real Airbus.

At night, the lighting effects are very realistic and the beacon and strobe lights work just like the real ones. The others lights are also well made and can be controlled independently from the overhead panel.

Regarding the 3D model, the developers made a decision that in my opinion was very well made. It doesn't have a 3D passenger cabin nor does it have flex wings. With the engine of FSX, it's very difficult to create a realistic animated flex wings. I prefer a more friendly add-on for the frames per second (FPS) than eye-candy effects that I will only see 1 or 2 times. That's because when flying an aircraft like that, 99% of my time is in the Captain's seat.

Inside and Systems

The cockpits are based on late models using LCD and updated ADIRS (Air Data and Inertial Reference System). I noticed many awesome things in the cockpit. First, it's in full 3D but there's also a toolbar in the top left hand side that gives you easy and fast access to important cockpit locations to make them easier to operate. This toolbar can be hidden and with the mouse wheel it shows more cockpit positions. The icons there also change between day or night. With the right MCDU you can also activate a 2nd toolbar on the top right hand side with more views and these can be arranged in vertical or horizontal style. These toolbars help a lot with the the operation of this complex aircraft.

The only 2D panel is the MCDU that can be moved to a 2nd screen. The textures and gauges of the cockpit, contrary to many other addons, are in high definition. They are very sharp and easy to read and look incredibly real. For example, at night the illuminations are very realistic and attractive.
As you can see on one of the screenshots, the right-hand side MCDU offers options to configure aircraft features. Furthermore, a special configurable option is available to turn the VC views into 2D style.

The cockpit has multiple custom animations such as the flight controls, windows and sun shields. The jump seat and the typical Airbus pilots tables are also animated. You can even show and hide the central compass that's in the overhead panel. All the announcements, buttons, knobs and animated objects have sounds collected from the real Airbus. The sounds of the engines and other systems are so real and impressive that you have a feeling that you're there.

To improve the overall experience, and this is an incredible feature of this add-on, it has checklists just as in a real Airbus. In the 2nd MCDU you can configure their use and even let the PnF (Pilot not Flying) do some tasks as in a real flight operation. I used these checklists and I was amazed. They're perfect. You have every checklist from cockpit preparation to final parking. All checklists are realistic triggered according to the flight situation and they are oral, like in real life, not with a text list in the screen. So, the PnF talks and you do the task. With this system, you automatically orally reply and the PnF moves on to the next item in the checklist. Its amazing and very impressive. I highly recommend that you watch some movies showing this on You tube.

The cabin sounds even include the communications between the pilot and ground during the push back operation The push back operation can be precisely configured on the 2nd MCDU. The configuration of the PnF even includes his actions when the speed exceed 250 knots when below 10.000 feet. All these together with the graphics quality gives you an impressive immersion and feeling that you are in a real A320 flight.

About Aircraft systems, almost everything has been implemented giving you a very complete and complex aircraft to manage. Mainly the only systems that are not modeled because of understandable reasons, are:

Terrain display on ND (Navigation Display)
This would greatly increase the cost and the needs of processing power to have one working exactly as in a real Airbus.

Weather radar
Unfortunately, almost all the weather radars (WR) on FSX don't show real images. A real WR shows localized dense formations of rain/water, but with the core FSX weather engine it's not possible to have it modeled.

Emergency systems
Like fire extinguishers and RAT (Ram Air Turbine), would increase the cost and complexity of the project for situations that very rarely happen in real life. Maybe it might be fun to sometimes try and test some situations, but in a general way, mainly all your flights will be without any unexpected incident. According to Aerosoft (http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/56475-what-is-not-included-simulated/) “For example in real life, with all the flights done by the A318, A319, A320 and A321, there was only one time the RAT was used.”

Complex radio systems
To give full compatibility with many existing radios. Anyway, with this aircraft you have 2 Navigation and 2 Communication radios the same as any other complex add-on for FSX.

Cabin Pressure Control
Manual cabin pressurization control, because you rarely need to use it. It's mainly used in the automatic mode.

So, as mentioned before, all other systems work very well. You have here a level of detail that will make any virtual airline pilot very happy. The Aerosoft development team made a huge effort to create many special features that went beyond the capacity of the FSX core engine. All this to create an Airbus as real as possible within the limitations of running one in a home PC.

All the cockpit displays, working buttons and associated systems modeled, work as in the real Airbus. All the ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor) modes work and correctly shows the state of many aircraft systems. The ND works very well and has curved lines on the route just as in the real one. Also modeled, are other modes like the VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) in Rose mode. Integrated in the ND is the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) that works very well, giving you visual and aural warnings and advisories when needed. This system also has the Below and Above modes. The TCAS works with AI traffic and also with IVAO and VATSIM traffic and that's perfect for your online flights. The PFD (Primary Flight Display) works very well with all the information and reference speed indicators. Also present is the very important FMA (Flight Modus Annunciator) which also works as expected.

The FCU (Flight Control Unit) in this add-on works perfectly, including the managed mode. It automatically and correctly pilots the aircraft without any issues. That integration with the MCDU was good to see. In all my main flights, I used them and they piloted my aircraft through all the routes in vertical and horizontal navigation modes perfectly. The FCU also includes the FPA/TRK (Flight Path Angle/Track) mode. The auto landing in a Cat III ILS runway, with some crosswind, ran perfectly without any problems. It's a pleasure to see all these complex systems interact with each other and pilot your aircraft correctly, as in a real Airbus.

Another important display that works quite well is the E/WD (Engine and Warning Display) that gives great help in the flight.

In the FADEC, as mentioned before, the developers did excellent work here. It works just like the real one with detents, Flex and TOGA modes. It realistically controls the thrust of your Airbus in an almost fully automatic way.

The MCDU is very complete and functional. It supports SIDs (Standard Instrument Departure), STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Route), transitions, approaches, go-around’s, holds, Managed climbs and descents and direct-to routes. In all the flights that I did, it works perfectly and correctly calculates the speeds, altitudes and fuel predictions. When you need to insert the Vrefs (V1, V2 and Vr) and the ZFW, the MCDU automatically fills the required fields for you. Of course you can change them, but you don't need to do boring calculations. These days no pilot needs to do it. Remember, it's the Dispatcher's job. You don't need to analyze multiple complex tables and diagrams to calculate the fuel necessary for the trip or the Vrefs as in other add ons. In the MCDU you can also save and load routes with and without SID and STAR procedures.

This is very useful when you want to repeat some routes and flights, as many companies do. To help you in your long trips the aircraft can pause your FSX 10 NM before the TOD (Top Of Descent) point or at next waypoint. This is configurable on your 2nd MCDU.
It's important to mention that there are many other realistic features implemented in this add-on. The GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) worked as promised. The ADIR (Air Data Inertial Reference) is modeled and you need to use it to have reference and navigation information in your PFD and ND. The electric bus don't use the FSX core engine, so, the batteries can run down and their corresponding voltage is more realistic than using the default system.

Furthermore, the auto brake system works as in the real Airbus. This means that with LO and MED deceleration set, a corresponding deceleration rate is maintained. This is not applicable for the MAX selection, which is under normal conditions only used for take-off. The MAX deceleration is based on maximum brake pressure, without reference to a deceleration value.

This add on also has another unique feature, but I couldn’t test it. There's a button in the cockpit that prints a performance sheet for your aircraft. But it prints on your printer not in the virtual one! This performance sheet has much important information like the Vrefs, runway data, packs, flaps, acceleration height, flex, wind, OAT (Outside Air Temperature) and QNH (barometric pressure adjusted to sea level). I hope that in a future patch there will be the opportunity for the people that don't have a printer connected to the PC, to have an option that prints information in a virtual paper on the screen. Ideally as a pop up 2D mini panel.

The Flight

As I've mentioned, I made many flights with A321 and A320 included in this add-on. These flights include routes such as LPPT (Lisbon) - LEMD (Madrid), LPPT - LPPD (Ponta Delgada) and EDDF (Frankfurt) - LOWW (Wien).

The flights, with all the features previously described, were awesome and were the most realistic experience as a virtual airline pilot I've ever had in my FSX experience. All flights ran very well and for modern airliner jet flights, this Airbus X Extended will be my first choice in future trips.
For example, for the flight EDDF-LOWW, I used the real route:

EDDF-SULUS-UZ650-VEMUT-UZ37-BUDEX-UZ205-VENEN-LOWW

Using this add-on, the fun starts with cold and dark status. I loaded the aircraft at a gate and activated the cold and dark status on the second MCDU. After that, I turned on the batteries and the checklists and when I was prepared I activated the checklists. The co-pilot verbally started the cockpit preparation checklist. All the checklists go through one after another. When I was prepared, I programmed the MCDU. I inserted all the data on the INIT page, all the waypoints and SID and STAR on the F-PLN. I used the info provided from the fuel planner tool on the FUEL-PRED for calculation of the Estimate Fuel On-Board. I checked to see if all the route are correct, and found that all the Vrefs and trim positions for takeoff were calculated correctly.

Finally, I check to see if everything is OK in the PERF and PROG pages and that there are no discontinuities to clear on the F-PLN. It was very nice to see that MCDU already inserted the GA procedures after the destination runway.

When everything in the MCDU was done, I contacted Ground. Then I continue with the next checklist that was waiting for me. There, you can choose the push back operation with engines starting or not. I chose with engines starting during push back, and after I configured for the push back and listened to the talking between the ground and the pilot, the aircraft starts to move. In the middle of the push back, I started the engines and when I listened to the awesome sound of engine starting and with all the immersion, my emotions grew to the point of my heart starting to beat faster.

After that, more checklists follow. When close to runway I was in a holding pattern, waiting for another aircraft to land. The checklist activation system detects the proximity of the runway that's assigned to you and triggers the final checklists before takeoff. Now, after being cleared to takeoff, I put the throttle in the Flex detent and felt the power of it. At this point, the PnF nicely reads the speeds to you as in a real flight. Now, in the air, the checklist for the climb started and I activate the autopilot.

Now this is where you see another beauty of this add-on. The MCDU controlling your FCU. In other words, the aircraft automatically follows the route that you previously inserted into the MCDU. It follows vertically and horizontally. In all stages, just like in real life, the Flight Attendant also talks in this add on. Even though she even offered me a drink and coffee in the middle of the flight, sadly, this didn't appear in front of me. The time in cruise flight was passed checking if everything was OK. As I got closer to the TOD point, I needed to turn on the Anti-Icing after an alert in the E/WD.

At 9 NM (nautical miles) before the descent, another checklist was triggered, and after insertion of some more data in the MCDU, I started my descent. I activated the speed brakes and was first rate to listen the sound of air through them. Entering the STAR, the MCDU again did its job with perfection. The PnF and PF alerted you when the Localizer was alive. Now, it was time for activating the LOC mode in the AP (Auto Pilot). Later, I heard the same warning for the G/S (Glide/Slope) and I activated the APP mode and the second AP. Even with a crosswind, the AP made the approach as the best pilot in the world.

Very close to the runway, the AP made the flare and then I disconnected it and landed the Airbus. The Auto Brakes worked perfectly and the RAAS did a really good job of alerting me with how much runway I had before I reached the end. I entered a taxiway and one more checklist shows up. Parking the aircraft triggered the final checklist.

It was a great and very awesome flight, and I felt like a real pilot after this experience. After the parking checklist, the checklist system restarted, after some minutes, to let you start another flight from that position if you wanted to.

Performance and final notes

This add-on was made with the latest texturing and modeling technologies to have excellent frames per second and I can prove it. In the complex Frankfurt airport that you see in the screenshots, I had no stutter or lower frames per second that spoiled or damaged the realism. It ran smoothly for all of the flight.
Finally I would like to add some more internal features and considerations. This add-on has integration with AES (Airport Enhancement Services). The MCDU can save the aircraft stages for later loading if you can’t fly all of a trip in the same day.

Almost all the gauges and some systems were made in XML format which means that if you have the skills to do it, you can change them to add or change some functionality. Also important to mention is the fact that this add-on has a good community that can help you in case of problems or just the regular Aerosoft Support. In the Aerosoft website, there's a dedicated forum and a special area for downloads. Every so often new tools show up to help you in your flights, like a recent released one to help you manage the routes saved in the MCDU.

This add-on isn't a perfect reproduction of an Airbus for FSX, but for a PC, that's an impossible task. It's a very complex aircraft and even professional simulators that cost millions of dollars can't simulate every thing. What I can say about this one is that it's the best and most real Airbus A320 released for our lovely FSX. It will make all novice and experienced pilots happy. It has a deep degree of realism and everything was made to help novice airline pilots to be introduced to this kind of aircraft.

With all the features that it has, it's also a must to have this add on for all VA (Virtual Airline) pilots.
Now, while flying with the Airbus X Extended, I'll dream that perhaps ... somewhere in the future ... we'll have an Airbus X Extended 2 or to be exactly, the Airbus A330 and/or A340.

Summary

It's an amazing aircraft that is an important mark in aviation history. Aerosoft recreated it for FSX with such great quality and with so many unique features that it's a must to have for all airline lovers. My hangar has hundreds of payware material but this aircraft is now my first choice in modern jet airliners. It's attractive, runs very well and the overall experiences are immersive. With a price of approximately $52.00 USD/39,95 Euro’s for the full download version, you must have it! (Currency conversion as of March, 2013). Or you go for the full boxed version which is only 39,99 Euro’s.

More information can be found at Aerosoft. I also recommend that you check this movie that will give you a nice idea of the Airbus X Extended with the checklists working.

With Greetings,
Tércio Sampaio

This review is written for Aerosoft Sim News and published via the Aerosoft website. While the reviewer has complete journalistic freedom, we ask the reader to keep in mind where the review is posted.